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2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (Johnsonverse)
The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 68th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 45th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Road America with the Harley-Davidson 250, followed by the Sprint Unlimited, the Can-Am Duel, and the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tony Stewart won his fifth championship, his third as an owner-driver. Toyota won the manufacturer's championship, becoming the first manufacturer to win the manufacturer's championship other than Chevrolet since 2002. The season also marked the second season of a new television contract. During the season, races were broadcast in the United States by Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and WBC Sports. The season marked the final season for Brian Scott, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Josh Wise, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Bobby Labonte, Michael Annett, Patrick Carpentier, Jeb Burton, Eddie McDonald, Robert Richardson Jr., Ryan Ellis, Justin Allgaier, Alex Kennedy and Tommy Baldwin Racing. Rumors that Tony Stewart would retire at the conclusion of 2016 were quashed by Stewart himself, who said he's happy about how he's been running lately, is loving the Strictly Stock Car, and will probably race into his 60s. The season also saw the addition of a newly-built track in Kanto on the Japanese Home Islands: Tokyo Superspeedway. The season also marked the final season with Sprint as the series sponsor as Panasonic took over the title sponsorship starting in 2017. It was also the first season in which BMW and Nissan fielded cars, and the first season Buick fielded a model in since 1991. Teams and drivers Complete schedule Chevrolet *Hendrick Motorsports (Camaro) **5 Kasey Kahne **24 Chase Elliott ® **48 Jimmie Johnson **88 Alex Bowman *JTG Daugherty Racing (Impala) **47 AJ Allmendinger *Richard Childress Racing (Camaro) **3 Austin Dillon **27 Paul Menard **31 Ryan Newman **33 Ty Dillon, Brian Scott *Stewart-Haas Racing (Camaro) **4 Kevin Harvick **10 Danica Patrick **14 Tony Stewart **41 Kurt Busch *Dale Earnhardt Inc. (Camaro) **8 Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, DJ Kennington **15 Macy Waltrip ® Ford *Front Row Motorsports (Mustang) **34 Chris Buescher ® **38 Landon Cassill *Go Fas Racing (Fusion) **32 Bobby Labonte, Jeffrey Earnhardt ®, Joey Gase, Jeb Burton, Patrick Carpentier, Eddie MacDonald, Boris Said, Dylan Lupton *Roush Fenway Racing (Roush Mustang) **6 Trevor Bayne **16 Greg Biffle **17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. *Wood Brothers Racing (Shelby GT500) **21 Ryan Blaney *Red Tiger Motorsports (Fusion) **70 Tracy Johnson ® Toyota (Only Fields Camry) *BK Racing (Gen-6 Camry) **23 David Ragan **83 Michael Waltrip, Matt DiBenedetto, Dylan Lupton, Jeffrey Earnhardt ® *Joe Gibbs Racing **11 Denny Hamlin **18 Kyle Busch **19 Carl Edwards **20 Matt Kenseth **81 Erik Jones *Tommy Baldwin Racing **7 Regan Smith Dodge *Team Penske (Charger) **2 Brad Keselowski **22 Joey Logano *Richard Petty Motorsports (Challenger) **43 Aric Almirola **44 Brian Scott ® *Evernham Motorsports (Charger) **09 Ty Dillon *Chip Ganassi Racing (Challenger) **1 Jamie McMurray **42 Kyle Larson Honda *Orange County Racing (Accord) **86 Jed Thomas ® **90 Luke George ® *Doug Yates Racing (Civic Type R) **28 Elliott Sadler *Circle Sport - Leavine Family Racing (Accord) **95 Michael McDowell, Red Stuart ® *HScott Motorsports (Civic Type-R) **45 Clint Bowyer **46 Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier BMW (NEW; Only Fields M3) *Furniture Row Racing **78 Martin Truex Jr. *Team Ohio **64 Kelly Walker ® **65 Rodney Clay ® *Germain Racing **13 Casey Mears Nissan (NEW; Only Fields Sentra) *MAG Incorporated **58 Lyle White ® **59 Bill Fuller ® *Stash Motorsports **91 Bo Abraham ® **92 Beau Philips ® Buick (RETURNING; Only Fields Regal) *Bobby Allison Racing **12 Dakoda Armstrong ® *Rossi Racing **50 BJ Fisher ® **53 Tyson Golston ® Limited Schedule Chevrolet *Hillman Racing (Camaro) **40 Reed Sorenson *The Motorsports Group (Impala) **30 Josh Wise, Gray Gaulding *Team Hiromi (Impala) **63 Kyle Clayton ® Ford *Front Row Motorsports (Fusion) **35 David Gilliland *Roush Fenway Racing (Roush Mustang) **99 Ryan Reed Toyota *BK Racing **26 Robert Richardson Jr. **49 Matt DiBenedetto **93 Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Ellis, Dylan Lupton Dodge *Premium Motorsports (Challenger) **55 Reed Sorenson, Michael Waltrip, Cole Whitt, Cody Ware, Alex Kennedy, DJ Kennington **98 Cole Whitt, Reed Sorenson, Ryan Ellis, Timmy Hill Honda *Circle Sport - Leavine Family Racing **59 Michael McDowell BWM *DRK Racing **82 Tyler Ferris ® Nissan *MAG Incorporated **56 Woody Irving ® Buick *Team Marmalade **76 Jake Mitchell ® Changes Teams *Michael Waltrip Racing ceased its operations after 2015, shutting down the No. 15 and No. 55 teams. Their cars were sold to startup team Orange County Racing, however Waltrip made plans to run the Daytona 500 with sponsor Maxwell House. Waltrip ran the No. 83 for BK Racing in the Daytona 500 with DiBenedetto moving to the No. 93 in a third BK Racing car for the race. Waltrip also ran the Talladega race in May in his old No. 55 now running under the Premium Motorsports banner. This car had been the No. 62 in 2015. *Wood Brothers Racing returned to full-time racing in 2016 for the first time since 2008. Ryan Blaney remained as driver, marking the first time the team would full-time with one driver since 2006. The team ran 19 races in 2015. *Front Row Motorsports downsized to two full-time teams in 2016, shutting down the No. 35 team. The team also received technical support as part of an alliance with Roush Fenway Racing. The team fielded the No. 35 car for David Gililland in the Daytona 500 and GEICO 500. *BK Racing downsized to two full-time teams in 2016, shutting down the No. 26 team. Due to lack of funding, the team was forced to buy 2013-era Gen-6 cars from Joe Gibbs Racing. The team fielded the No. 26 car for Robert Richardson Jr. in the Daytona 500. *Circle Sport and Leavine Family Racing merged to form Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing. The team ran the full 36-race schedule with the No. 95 in a Honda Accord. The No. 33 team was shut down. Rookie Red Stuart ran five races with crew chief Todd Parrott, including the Daytona 500 with Michael McDowell driving the other 31 with crew chief Dave Winston. The team fielded a second car, the No. 59, in the Daytona 500 and Ford EcoBoost 400 for McDowell. *Premium Motorsports hired Mike Hillman to head up its operations in 2016, bringing over Mark Hillman – who served as the No. 40's crew chief – and most of the staff from the No. 40 team, therefore shutting that team down on a full-time basis. Premium Motorsports ran only one full-time team with Cole Whitt in the No. 98 in 2016, shutting down the No. 62. Whitt drove for Front Row Motorsports in the now defunct No. 35 in 2015. Hillman still ran the No. 40 with Reed Sorenson in the Daytona 500. The second Premium team was reactivated at Martinsville as the No. 55, with Sorenson driving. *In what is called the Great Team Boom of 2016, multiple new teams were started with financial assistance from BMW, Nissan, and Buick. Doug Yates restarted Yates Racing under the name Doug Yates Racing, while Bobby Allison resurrected Bobby Allison Racing. *Dale Earnhardt Inc. was resurrected by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who left Hendrick Motorsports to drive as an owner-driver in the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet Camaro. The No. 15 car was also resurrected, driven by Michael Waltrip's daughter, Macy Waltrip. *Ray Evernham left NBC to restart Evernham Motorsports with the No. 09, driven by Ty Dillon. Drivers *Chase Elliott moves up from the Xfinity Series to the Sprint Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports, replacing Jeff Gordon in the No. 24, who retired after the 2015 season. *Alex Bowman moved to the No. 88 car at Hendrick Motorsports after Dale Earnhardt Jr. left for the new DEI. *Clint Bowyer replaced Justin Allgaier in the HScott Motorsports No. 45 (renumbered from No. 51) for 2016. Bowyer ran the No. 15 for the now closed Michael Waltrip team in 2015. *Brian Scott replaced Sam Hornish Jr. in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 44 (renumbered from No. 9). Scott ran for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series in 2015. *Chris Buescher moved up from the Xfinity Series to the Sprint Cup Series for Front Row Motorsports, replacing Brett Moffitt and other various drivers in the No. 34. Buescher ran six races in the No. 34 in 2015 and won the 2015 Xfinity Series Championship with Roush Fenway Racing in the No. 60. He is on loan from Roush Fenway Racing, with Roush providing additional technical support for him in 2016. *Landon Cassill replaced David Gililland in the Front Row Motorsports No. 38. Cassill ran for Hillman Racing in the No. 40 in 2015. *Jeffrey Earnhardt ran at least 20 races in the No. 32 for Go FAS Racing. Bobby Labonte continued to run the four restrictor plate races. The team had multiple drivers in 2015. *David Ragan replaced JJ Yeley and Jeb Burton in the BK Racing No. 23. Ragan drove full-time for various teams – mostly in a substitute role due to injuries – in 2015, mostly for the now defunct Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55. *Regan Smith replaced Alex Bowman in the Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7. Smith ran for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series in 2015. *Dale Earnhardt Jr.. suffered from concussion like symptoms following the race in Kentucky and was replaced by DJ Kennington at New Hampshire and Michigan. Jeff Gordon came out of retirement to replace Jr. at Indianapolis, Pocono, Watkins Glen, and Bristol. It was announced on August 30 that Earnhardt would miss the rest of the season and that Kennington and Gordon would share the car for the final 12 races of the season. Gordon drove at Darlington, Richmond, Dover, and Martinsville while Kennington drove at Chicagoland, New Hampshire, Charlotte, Kansas, Talladega, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead. Manufacturers *BWM and Nissan entered the sport, fielding the M3 and Sentra, respectively. *Buick returned to NASCAR after last running in 1991, fielding the Regal. *Furniture Row Racing changed its manufacturer to BMW after being with Chevrolet since the team's inception in 2005. *Germain Racing changed its manufacturer to BMW after being with Chevrolet since it opened in 2004. *Chip Ganassi Racing returned to Dodge, running the Challenger model. *Yates Racing, traditionally a Ford team, went to Honda. Changes Technical changes All cars began using a digital dashboard starting in 2016.The dashboard only provided information that was available on manual gauges and lap times, but there were plans to work in tire pressure readings and other telemetry to drivers, teams, and fans at home. At all tracks except Daytona and Talladega: *The rear spoiler height was reduced from 6 inches to 3.5 inches. *The radiator pan width was reduced from 38 inches to 33 inches. At Daytona and Talladega: *Engine roller lifters replaced solid lifters, adding around 10 horsepower to each car. *Restrictor plates had the openings reduced from 29/32 inches to 57/64 inches to counter the horsepower increase. *Starting at the July Daytona race, each car ran a standardized radiator and oil cooler system. Safety enhancements at all tracks: *There must be an on-board fire suppression system activation cable routed to the dash or right-hand side leg board. *Seat belt restraint systems must meet increased specifications. Other changes: *All track bar and wedge wrenches must be painted yellow. *NASCAR changed inspection methods, reducing pre-race inspection time but increasing the amount of time teams have to present their cars for pre-qualifying inspection. In addition, NASCAR utilized new inspection methods aided by Microsoft Surface tablets to further increase efficiencies. *Beginning at the May Talladega race, NASCAR began enforcing lug nuts again, a practice which was discontinued after the 2013 season. The rule now required all 5 lug nuts on all 4 wheels must be "installed in a safe and secure manner." If during post-race inspection a wheel is found to be missing a lug nut or a lug not is not secured, it was an automatic P3 penalty resulting in the crew chief, tire changer, and tire carrier each receiving a one race suspension and fine. The change comes after mass criticism, particularly from owner-driver Tony Stewart, about poor safety practices occurring from lack of enforcement. Vetoed Changes *2016 would have seen the introduction of a charter system in a deal reached between NASCAR and the Race Team Alliance. Thirty-six teams would hold a charter, which guarantees them a spot in the field for all 36 races. To be eligible for a charter, a team had to be running full-time since the 2013 season. Charter owners may transfer their Charter to another team, for one full season, once over the first five years of the agreement. *Charter teams are held to a minimum performance standard. If a Charter team finishes in the bottom three of the owner standings among all 36 Charter teams for three consecutive years, NASCAR has a right to force the sale of the charter. *NASCAR would also have reduced the size of the Cup field from 46 to 40 cars. *Teams may sell their Charters on the open market before each season. *Organizations would have had a hard cap of five cars; prohibiting a sixth car for rookie drivers. For example, Joe Gibbs Racing had planned to run Erik Jones on a limited Cup schedule in addition to the full Xfinity Series schedule; if they wanted to run Jones in any Cup races, under this new rule they would have had to farm him out to another team, likely Furniture Row Racing, who was seeking to add a second team in 2017. *Due to the charters and reduction of field size, the qualifying procedures were revised. The final four spots for non-chartered teams are determined by qualifying results. If qualifying was rained out, practice speeds were used. If practice and qualifying are rained out, owner points were used. For the Daytona 500 only, the final four teams are the highest non-charter finisher in each duel plus the two highest qualifiers that did not clinch a spot in the duel. *Due to the field shortening from 43 to 40 cars, the point system was revised to 1 point for 40th place up to 40 points for 1st place. All other bonuses points, including the win bonus and laps lead bonus points, are the same. *2016 would have also introduced the "Overtime Line" as a modification for the green-white-checker rule. After taking the green flag, if a caution appears before the leader has reached the overtime line, the restart was waved off and another attempt would be made. There were an unlimited number of attempts for this, however once the leader reaches the line, the next flag ended the race. The placement of the overtime line varied from track to track. Reportedly, these changes were never put past Tim Johnson, and were to be implemented without his permission. When he found out, the individuals responsible were fired. Tim did make a few changes, though, termed the "Final Solution" by Johnson HQ staff: *When the caution comes out, the field will no longer be frozen; it is now perfectly legal to race back to the caution *No more cautions for non-existent debris to create artifical drama *During Speedweek 2016, Tim found a panel that could make tires self-destruct at any point to bring out a caution; not only was he famously pictured taking a sledgehammer to it, he also fired the person in charge of this, and personally hunted down whoever thought it was a good idea *Teams may now use tires from a manufacturer other than Goodyear *Downforce will be returned to 2005 levels *Anyone in NASCAR corporate who attempts to override any change made by Tim Johnson will be fired and blacklisted; a Post-It attached to the memo reportedly read "Brian and Mike's mistakes will be erased!" Although many NASCAR executives were angry that Johnson was essentially becoming a dictator, the changes succeeded in restoring NASCAR's lost popularity. Schedule The final calendar – comprising 36 races, as well as exhibition races, which are the Sprint Unlimited, Can-Am Duel qualifying duel races for the Daytona 500, the Sprint Unlimited, and the new Tokyo Late Model Classic – was released on October 26, 2015. With the schedule announcement also came the announcement of NASCAR securing a five-year contract with each track to continue to host races over the next five seasons. Key changes from 2015 include: *A brand-new track was added to the schedule, Tokyo Superspeedway. The track replaced the June Pocono and Fall Phoenix races, and the June Michigan race was also eliminated in favor of the Toyko Late Model Classic *The Easter off-week was placed late-March between Fontana and Martinsville, instead of the mid-April break between Martinsville and Texas as in recent years. *The spring race at Richmond moved from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon. *Michigan and Bristol swap their August race dates. *The third off-week has been moved to mid-August between Watkins Glen and Bristol, instead of the usual late-August break between Bristol and Darlington. This has been done so as to avoid competing with the 2016 Summer Olympics. *The first race at Dover and the Memorial Day week swapped dates, so the last race before the All-Star Race is Dover instead of Kansas. Summary Race Reports Round 1: Harley-Davidson 250 After a hotly-contested race, Jamie McMurray got the win, his first since 2013. Daytona Speedweeks 2016 Speedweeks 2016 started with the Sprint Unlimited. Denny Hamlin led the most laps and won his third career Sprint Unlimited, followed by Joey Logano, Paul Menard, Kyle Larson, and Casey Mears. The race saw several multicar crashes, including one that sent the race into overtime. During the overtime period, a clean restart occurred before another multicar crash that sent Matt Kenseth into a barrell-roll eerily similar to Ricky Rudd's flip at the 1984 running of the Unlimited caused the race to end under yellow. Qualifying for the front row of the Daytona 500 took place the following day. Rookie Chase Elliott won the pole, becoming the youngest Daytona 500 pole winner ever at the age of 20 years, 2 months, and 17 days. Matt Kenseth, who had flipped the previous night, joined Elliott on the front row by qualifying second. The following Thursday, the Can-Am Duels took place to set the starting lineup for the heat races for the Daytona 500. Dale Earnhadt Jr. led the most laps and won the first duel race, his first in the 8 car since 2006. The second duel race was won by Kyle Busch ahead of a last-lap crash that involved multiple drivers including Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., and polesitter Kenseth, Round 2: Daytona 500 Elliott started on pole, but was taken out of contention by an early spin through the grass that destroyed the front end of his car. Several other small wrecks occurred throughout the race including a spin by Brian Vickers that caused Trevor Bayne and Carl Edwards to make contact, a single-car wreck that sent Earnhardt into the wall, and a wreck between Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle. Denny Hamlin led the most laps, with the four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers and Truex Jr. up front for most of the race. On the last lap, out of nowhere, and to the shock of the entire racing world, a Lend-Lease entry driven by none other than Richard Petty passed seven cars in three laps to get win #201. Petty was driving a Plymouth Superbird, and Aric Almirola took the number 43B for the race. Petty dedicated the win to Adam Petty, who died in a Busch Series practice crash in 2000. Round 3: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Kurt Busch started on pole after his younger brother Kyle Busch's pole-winning qualifying time was disallowed, resulting in him starting in the rear. The race used the new low downforce package and saw few caution flags. Kenseth led several laps but went two laps down after a miscommunication following a pit road penalty. Kevin Harvick led the most laps but Johnson took the lead after pitting early during the final round of green-flag pit stops. After a cut tire from Ryan Newman sent the race into overtime, Johnson would win the race under caution after a multicar wreck involving Aric Almirola and 3 others occurred following a clean restart. The win was the 76th career win for Johnson, tying Dale Earnhardt. Round 4: Kobalt 400 Rookie Kelly Walker led the field to green after a brief delay due to rain showers; Walker was the second woman to win the pole in a Cup Series race, and gave BMW its first pole. The race was plagued by high winds, with a sandstorm hitting the track at one point from laps 202–205. Jimmie Johnson led the most laps in the race. A few wrecks occurred including one involving Regan Smith and Kyle Larson and a multicar wreck that took Matt Kenseth and Chase Elliott out of contention. Kyle Busch had the lead in the closing laps, but was passed by Tony Stewart, who went on to win the race. Keselowski was followed by Joey Logano, Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Austin Dillon. Round 5: Good Sam 500 Kyle Busch started from the pole and led the early part of the race. Dale Earnhardt, Carl Edwards, and rookie Rodney Clay also led throughout the race, with Clay leading the most laps. The race saw several drivers using Hoosier tires have issues from melted tire beads including Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski, and Kasey Kahne. Kahne's crash into the wall sent the race into overtime, where Kevin Harvick beat Edwards in a photo-finish, followed by Rodney Clay, Kyle Busch, and Earnhardt, Jr. Harvick won his 8th career race at Phoenix, and BMW got its first top five finish. Round 6: Auto Club 400 Austin Dillon started the race from the pole. A number of drivers had tire issues throughout the race, including Kyle Larson, who crashed into the inside wall hard. Another incident occurred with Kasey Kahne and Danica Patrick got together, sending Patrick into the wall. Kevin Harvick led the most laps in the race. The race went into overtime after Kyle Busch got into the wall from a blown tire. In the overtime finish, Danica Patrick scored the win, ahead of Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Round 7: STP 500 Joey Logano started on the pole and led early before fading. A few incidents occurred during the race including an early spin by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin getting into the wall. Kyle Busch led the most laps and went on to win the race, his first career win at Martinsville and completing the weekend sweep as he won the Camping World Truck Series race the day before. Kyle Busch was followed by AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, and and Ty Dillon, Buick's first top five finish since 1991. Round 8: Sunoco 400 Carl Edwards led the field to green after a two-hour delay from rain. Rookie Macy Waltrip led the most laps in the race. Late in the race, a 13-car wreck occurred when Austin Dillon spun and caused a chain reaction that collected several drivers including Paul Menard, Ryan Newman, Trevor Bayne, Brian Vickers, and Brian Scott. During the final caution, Truex Jr. stayed out while several other drivers came to pit road for fresh tires. On the restart, Waltrip was able to get around Truex Jr. and win the race, becoming the second woman to win in NASCAR competition, and also the youngest at the age of 19, also making her the youngest winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kyle Busch was followed across the finish line by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, and Chase Elliott. Round 9: Food City 500 Carl Edwards started the race from pole position as Dale Earnhardt Jr. went two laps down early after not being able to get going at the initial start. Matt Kenseth led several laps in the early part of the race. Kyle Busch experienced tire issues, a spin, and pit-road speeding penalties before a cut right-front tire sent him hard into the wall a little past halfway, ending his race. Kenseth also had a right-front tire issue that sent him into the wall and knocked him out of contention. Kyle Larson experienced a broken track bar that left him multiple laps down. Denny Hamlin and Aric Almirola both got into the wall late in the race in separate crashes. Edwards would go on to lead the most laps and win the race, his first of the season. Edwards was followed by Earnhardt Jr. (who rebounded from his early issues), Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, and Trevor Bayne. BK Racing driver Matt DiBenedetto recorded a career best finish of 6th. Round 10: Toyota Owners 400 Kevin Harvick started from pole after qualifying was rained out and the field was set by practice speeds. The race saw long green-flag runs in the early part of the race. Several drivers rotated the lead throughout the race, including Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Kurt Busch. In the later part of the race, a few incidents occurred including a cut tire from rookie Tyler Ferris and a wreck from Brian Scott. In the closing laps, Kyle Busch held the lead with Edwards close behind. On the final lap, Edwards did a "bump and run" move to take the lead from Kyle Busch, but it backfired, and both cars went in the wall, allowing Tony Stewart to get his second win of the season. Kelly Walker finished second, followed by Johnson, Kasey Kahne, and Harvick. Round 11: GEICO 500 Chase Elliott was on pole position for the race. The race was threatened by rain and featured intense racing and numerous multicar wrecks. Early in the race, Ty Dillon got loose and collected Kasey Kahne. Near the middle of the race, a 7-car wreck occurred that saw Chris Buescher flip multiple times. Carl Edwards got into Stewart Claiborne, causing serious damage to both cars. Kahne would also be involved in a second wreck. Toward the later part of the race, several crashes occurred, including "The Big One", which involved 21 cars, and a hard wreck involving Danic Patrick and Matt Kenseth that saw Kenseth go airborne and flip wildly down the backstretch, causing an oil fire that put the race under a red flag while it was put out. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race as a multicar wreck occurred coming to the checkered flag that involved Kevin Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., among others. Round 12: Tyson Holly Farms 400 Martin Truex Jr. started on pole and dominated the race, leading 172 laps. However, a loose wheel following a green-flag pit stop took him out of contention for the win. Late in the race, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Larson were involved in a wreck battling for position near the front of the field. Under this caution, Macy Waltrip stayed out while other drivers came to pit road for fresh tires. In the closing laps, Waltrip was able to hold off Kevin Harvick on older tires and win the race. Harvick finished second, followed by Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Ryan Blaney. Round 13: AAA Drive for Autism 400 Kevin Harvick won the pole after qualifying was rained out and the starting order was set by first practice speeds. Harvick led before and after the competition caution on lap 40. Others such as Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. led during the race. Early in the race, several single-car wrecks occurred that involved drivers including Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, and Michael Annett. The race was nerve rattling towards the end. Brad Keselowski ran into the lapped car of Austin Dillon while leading, cutting down his tire. A Lend-Lease entry, a Nissan 240SX, blew his engine and spilled oil on the track. On a restart with 46 laps to go, leader Jimmie Johnson could not get going and bunched up the field, causing a large wreck which involved 18 cars. Carl Edwards crashed into the inside wall on the following restart. The race restarted again with 35 laps to go and the end came down to a battle between Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson. Larson came close numerous times to get the lead, but Kenseth put the block on Larson and won his first race of the season. Exhibition: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Kevin Harvick won the pole for the All-Star Race after the field was set by owner points due to qualifying being rained out. Harvick led much of the first 50-lap segment but gave up the lead to make the required green-flag pit stop. Everyone made the stop except Matt Kenseth, who was leading when Jamie McMurray spun out with five laps left in the segment and was unable to make his stop. He was penalized one lap for failing to stop, creating a scoring confusion that occurred when NASCAR allowed cars trapped one lap down by Kenseth, who were now on the tail-end of the lead lap, to pit in front of new leader Carl Edwards. Some of those cars came off pit road behind the leaders, one lap down, and were originally scored on the lead lap. However, the issue was corrected and those cars were sent to the rear. Brad Keselowski lead to green on the start of the second 50-lap second, which required a green-flag pit stop before lap 85 (lap 35 of segment 2). A few laps into the segment, a caution came out for water in turn two, and Kevin Harvick made several pit stops due to what appeared to be fuel pump problems. When the race restarted, Chase Elliott attempted to make his required pit stop, causing Matt Kenseth to slow up and get turned into the wall, collecting Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne. Greg Biffle's car was also damaged after clipping Elliott's right rear. After the restart, everyone else made the required green-flag stops, and Kyle Busch, who assumed the lead after pit stops, received a speeding penalty and dropped to 13th. Keselowski assumed the lead, but lost it to Kyle Larson took the lead from Keselowski, who won the second segment. A random draw of 9, 10, or 11 at the end of the segment determined that the top 11 cars had to pit for four tires. This gave the lead to 12th-place Jimmie Johnson for the final segment, with Kyle Busch lining up alongside. On the restart for the final segment, Kyle Larson took the lead back from Johnson and began to pull away from the field, but was caught by Macy Waltrip. Larson and Waltrip ran side-by-side to the finish, with Larson beating Waltrip by .004 seconds. Round 14: Coca-Cola 600 Martin Truex Jr. started the race from the pole. Truex dominated, leading 392 of 400 laps. A few incidents happened during the race including a cut tire from Kasey Kahne early in the race, a pit-road penalty for Joey Logano, and a cut tire that sent Kyle Busch into the wall late in the race. Truex won the race to set the record for most laps led in a race at Charlotte and most miles led in a NASCAR race by leading for 588 miles. Truex was followed across the finish line by Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, and Brad Keselowski. Exhibition: Tokyo Late Model Classic The first race at the brand-new Tokyo Superspeedway, the 60-lap feature involved current and past drivers in Gen-4 cars. In the end, it was Cale Yarborough who took the checkers. Round 15: Tokyo 500 The conclusion of Tokyo Speedweek, the first Sprint Cup Series race at Tokyo Superspeedway was both exciting and intense. Speeds topped out at 208 MPH, forcing NASCAR to modify the restrictor plate for the fall race. "The Big One" broke out with nine laps to go, sending Ricky Stenhouse Jr. flipping wildly down the backstretch. After the last restart, Chase Elliott held off Macy Waltrip (his prime competitor for Rookie of the Year) to take his first career win. It was the first time an Elliott had won in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since 2003. Round 16: Toyota/Save Mart 350 Carl Edwards started the race from pole position. Early in the race, Clint Bowyer suffered an electrical fire in his car that sent him to the garage. Denny Hamlin led the most laps in the race. Late in the race, Tony Stewart made a green-flag pit stop right before a caution came out for debris. The rest of the field came to pit road under the caution while Stewart stayed out and inherited the lead. On the last lap, Hamlin passed Stewart for the lead in turn 7, but Stewart was able to regain the lead from Hamlin in the final turn and win the race. Round 17: Coke Zero 400 Greg Biffle won the pole for the race. The first half of the race was calm. On lap 90, "The Big One" occurred when teammates Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson got together, sending McMurray into Jimmie Johnson and it involved 19 other cars including Brian Scott's car coming to rest on top of Kevin Harvick's car. Tony Stewart dominated, leading 115 laps. Late in the race, Kyle Busch wrecked and collected Carl Edwards and Casey Mears. Edwards would again be involved in a wreck with 5 laps to go that sent the race into overtime. Stewart held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a seeming continuation of their battle in the closing laps of the 2014 Coke Zero 400 prior to the tragedy, as Kurt Busch went for a slide through the infield grass after getting tapped by Joey Logano. WORK-IN-PROGRESS